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Democratic Star Davis Raising Money This Week in San Francisco, DC

Another indication that pro choice activist Wendy Davis has her sights set on higher office, or at least nationwide recognition.

Davis this week embarks on a cross country fundraising trip, raising money in Democratic Party strongholds like San Francisco and Washington D.C.

Cal Jillson, a political analyst at SMU, says Davis is riding high in Democratic circles following her filibuster of an abortion bill in the Legislature, and he points out Texas is not nearly the ATM for Democrats that it is for Republicans.

"You'd have to be a fool not to take advantage of out of state money," he said.

Davis released financial disclosure reports earlier this month indicating she raised nearly $1 million, mainly from small donors and more than two thirds of the donations were from out of Texas, indicating Davis has touched a nerve with Democrats for standing up against abortion restrictions in the conservative state of Texas.

Jillson says $1 million isn't going to get Davis very far if she wants to run for governor, perhaps challenge Republican U.S. Senator John Cornyn, or to raise a nationwide profile.

"If you look back at the Senate race from a year ago, the Republicans alone spent $60 to $65 million," Jillson said.

He says there is nothing unusual for Texas politicians to seek donations out of state for runs in Texas. Despite the large number of conservative donors in Texas, he points out that Tea Party favorite Ted Cruz raised a lot of his $65 million campaign war chest out of state.

"Ted Cruz in 2012 was lagging in Texas fundraising until the national money came in and got him into a runoff," he says.

A race for governor by Davis is seen as politically risky and unlikely. Likely Republican nominee Greg Abbott already has $23 million in his campaign account, and if Davis should appear to be competitive, Abbott's campaign could easily bury her with additional cash.

Abbott is seen as a strong candidate than Gov. Rick Perry would have been, and, after a probably loss, Davis would go from being a rising star to the latest incarnation of Bill White or Farouk Shami, a political has-been who has used him her political capital.

It is also likely that Davis's Ft. Worth State Senate seat would go to a Republican if she decided to run for another office next year, something that wouldn't do the Democrats any good.